Music As An Effective Instructional Tool

When teaching, there are a lot of instructional methodologies and aids to make the teaching and learning experience effective and worthwhile. For instance, the best telescopes for learning astronomy are essential to make teaching more effectual and learning more enjoyable.

Another effective teaching tool that many educators shy away from and are reluctant to use in their class is music since they believe that they are required to have a musical training to efficiently utilize this tool. But, there are numerous ways to incorporate music in the teaching space and it doesn’t require any musical training to effectually use it.

Benefits of Incorporating Music in the Classroom

Educators should properly challenge every learner and encourage and nurture higher-order thinking and reasoning while at the same time meeting scholastic standards. To engage learners, music is one effective instructional tool. Moreover, music presents a channel for connections and profounder understanding.

Here are some reasons as to why music is an effective instructional tool to use in the classroom:

  • It helps build a positive and constructive learning environment

Learning is difficult when people are under or experiencing stress. It is a must for both the brain and the body to be in a state of composure and calmness to get ready for learning. Many researches have presented that utilizing music in the classroom as a background sound increased the level of calmness and positivity and calmness in both the learners and teachers. Learners exhibited normalized levels of blood pressure, body temperature as well as pulse rate which is translated to lessened anxiety, frustration, as well as aggressive actions.

  • It could improve and increase memory recall

Both memory and music have a strong, deep-rooted and enduring link within the brain. Researchers say that incorporating music in a classroom could enrich students’ memory and recall of the focused learning content or material. Whether it is an expressive song regarding conflicts and wars or a powerful upbeat tune to aid in explaining electrical energy, music assists to trigger and activate the info physically, mentally as well as emotionally.

  • The foundation of ideas and concepts are solidified through the help of music

Educators, particularly in the area of science, give emphasis on the significance of comprehending simple terminology and vocabulary contained in a subject prior to moving on to concepts that are more complex since a solid, foundational understanding of vocabulary aids students to make relational links to greater concepts.

Together with lectures and activities in class, content-based songs present learners with an alternative approach of grasping the basics. Research reveals that alternate methods for learning allow opportunities for learners to associate ideas as well as structure information via their own meaning.

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Study Shows Musical Training Contributes Greatly in the Improvement of Human Attentional System

A recent examination about the effects of years of musical training among professional musicians revealed that when compared to non-musicians, their musical training created notable differences in the improvement of attentional systems.

Conducted by David Medina, BMEd of the Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educación, and Paulo Barraza, PhD, Center for Advanced Research in Education, University of Chile, both in Santiago, Chile, it is the first of its kind study that provides information useful in the development of cognitive abilities in the educational and medical fields.

School programs, seeking to further the development of cognitive abilities may implement conscious and intentional practice of music as a method. In the clinical field, encouraging deliberate practice of music in patients with ADHD can be applied as a means of strengthening their ability to manage attention distractions.

Paulo Barraza, leader of the investigating team said their analysis has brought them to the conclusion that professional musicians have quicker and more accurate ability to respond, by knowing immediately what is important to the performance of tasks. Mainly because compared to non-musicians, professional musicians have developed the ability to filter out irrelevant and incompatible stimuli.

Facts about the Human Attentional System

The human attentional system is said to consist of three (3) subsystems brought about by different neural networks, namely the executive control, alerting, and orienting networks.

 

Alerting Networks have functions related to the ability of humans to maintain readiness for action.

The function of the Orienting Networks is linked to the selection of information received by the senses, which could bring about changes in attentional focus.

The Executive Control functions to suppress distracting and incompatible stimuli to the system that manages and control actions.

Findings of the Study of the Effects of Musical Training in the Improvement of Attentional Systems

In the study conducted by Barraza and Medina, the results of their attentional networks tests on 36 individuals presented evidence that there is a correlation between the orienting and alerting networks in musicians. The reflected relationship was attributed to the deliberate practice of music by musicians, a premise that is not true to non-musicians.

Of the 36 individuals who took the attentional network tests, 18 are professional pianists and 18 was a matched group of adults not at all engaged in music as a profession. The group of musicians are a mix of full-time conservatory of students and graduates from the Universidad Mayor de Chile, Conservatories of the Universidad de Chile, and the Universidad Austral de Chile, all with an average of 12 years or more musical practice.

The other half of the group of testers, were also a mixed group of students and graduates, but without education in music lessons, nor have the ability to read or play music.

All participants are right-handed, with normal hearing capability, and native Spanish speakers. Moreover, none of the participants had any history of psychiatric or neurological conditions.

Other points of interest included findings that showed improvements in the efficiency of the executive control system among those with years of musical training. The results of the attentional network test also revealed that in the case of musicians, there was evidence that the efficiency of the orienting and alerting systems can potentially extend to the inhibitory executive control system.

The test results showed that with non-musicians, the three (3) attentional networks functioned independently.

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Learning How to Play a Musical Instrument Yields Academic Benefits, But…

Students taking up music courses in high school, manage to achieve better scores in English, Math and Science examinations. This was the findings gathered by a group of researchers at the University of British Columbia, when they conducted a population-level analysis of the links between academic achievements and participation in school musical activities. Results of the analysis were published recently in the Journal of Educational Psychology.

Peter Gouzouasis who headed the academic investigation said, their analyses revealed that students who were into at least one musical instrument from elementary to high school, not only managed to score higher. The musically inclined students were also able to finish academics ahead by one year than their non-musical counterparts.

However, when associating this population study with a 2012 European Journal of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine of medical research about music students on Playing-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (PRMD), it appears that the drawback to such an achievement is a predictive susceptibility to musculoskeletal dysfunctions.

About the UBC Study on Musician Students as Better Academic Achievers than Non-Musician Students

UBC Professors Peter Gouzouasis, Martin Guhn, and Scott D. Emerson MSc at the university’s School of Population and Public Health, gathered data related to 112,000 high school students in all British Columbia public schools, who completed Grade 12 Level between 2012 and 2015. Learners classified as music students are those who elected to study a music course on at least one instrument.

Better academic performance was measured through exam grades, regardless of ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic background, and prior learning experience in math and English.

According to Prof. Gouzouasis, the revelations of their predictive analysis proved public school administrators wrong. The latter group held the belief that musically inclined students, who spend more time studying music, will likely underperform in the main academic subjects.

Prof. Martin Guhn, who co-investigated in the study said their findings suggest that skills acquired by students in learning a musical instrument, expands quite broadly to academic learning. Their analysis is that skills are developed because of the demands imposed on students when learning to play an instrument. Such demands include, knowing how to read music notation, as well as keen development of eye-hand-and-mind coordination, listening skills, team skills and discipline for practice.

All of which, play an important role in enhancing a musician-student’s cognitive capabilities, ability to plan, organize and finish tasks, motivation for learning and belief in one’s abilities.

Playing-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (PRMD) Among Music Students

This medical study was collaborated on by the Department for Musculoskeletal and Pain Medicine at the Institute for Musician’s Medicine in Berlin, Brandenburg and the Sana Kliniken Sommerfeld in Kremmen, Germany.

Findings delved on the prevalence of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) developed by professional musicians and music students associated with playing instruments; otherwise known as Playing-Related Musculoskeletal Disorder (PRMD). Analysis showed that the disorder is common to musicians; to which 80% of professional musicians suffer from PRMD while the prevalence rate among music students is said to be higher.

PRMDs relate to the pain or injuries experienced in the joints, muscles, nerves, ligaments, tendons, and structures of supporting limbs, neck and back of the musculoskeletal system. The most common underlying causes are degenerative discs and facet joints, which can cause secondary pain in the muscles and nerves of the spine and extremities. Sufferers generally experience low-back pain, although they can be prevented or alleviated by early treatment.

To learn more about low-back pain as a result of degenerative discs and facet joints disorders associated with PRMD, comprehensive information is available at the website of the Central Texas Spine Institute in Austin.

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June 26, 2019

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Tips in Choosing Comfortable Headphones for Traveling

Headphones are definitely the perfect solution for distraction— well, in a good way at least. Not only that it can be used to listen to music, but it is also used for various ways and for different purposes. One of them is to help you sleep well during your travel, or at least to help you travel.

But how do you know what headphones to choose that is ideal for helping you sleep and relaxed during your travel? Today,  this blog post will talk about a few things you needed to know before buying headphones to sleep in during your travel.

Choosing Headphones for Traveling

Many travelers rely on headphones as they head travel, this is either to isolate themselves from the busy air terminal, or just to get a good rest. Not only that headphones can be a good distraction to noise, but it can also alleviate stress and lower one’s heart rate, indeed making one relaxed to prepare for sleep, or yet better to escape jetlag. 

However, there are a lot of headphones you can find on the market today, and it just became so tricky to find one that is ideal for your need. Usually, they look exactly the same, but don’t get deceive for its look does not always mean the same uses and features. 

Kind of Sleep Headphones During Travel

There are different design and features of headphones that you can find in the market today. Here are a few designs you should take note of.

1. Over-ear

This is one of the traditional headphones that mold around the outer ear for a more closer and snug fit. These tend to be larger on the sides, usually in a round shape, with headphones that are connected by a solid band that fits around the top of the head. Most likely, this is one of the oldest styles of headphone yet still one of the best kind

2. On-ear

On the ear or also known as clip-on headphones, these are smaller versions of the over-ear models that rest outside of the ear without entering the ear canal. This is basically the most common headphones that people use today. 

That’s it! For travel essential, tips, and inquiries for domestic & international tour packages, you can leave us a message or two at https://tripxperia.com/destination/bali/state

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June 25, 2019

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Is Music Sounds Better with Marijuana?

Music Can Sound Better

It might not be information to cannabis customers that music seems better once you have had a bang from the vaporizer. The notes look better and the lyrics appear to radiate at a manner they simply don’t if you haven’t swallowed cannabis. There aren’t any studies I’m aware of that suggest why cannabis makes audio seem, however, there’s a great deal of anecdotal evidence which serves to describe how music has got an excess boost from cannabis intake.

A 2011 research, printed in the journal Neuropharmacology discovered that cannabis has any impact on brain processing in people. The analysis, which appeared at 14 unique topics, each about three distinct occasions, utilized FRMI, or functional magnetic resonance imaging, to determine whether cannabis changed the visual and sensory processing of individuals. From the analysis, THC and CBD have been also isolated and analyzed independently, each seeming to have distinct impacts on the neural system.

Cannabis Makes It Possible Tune In

It ends up, cannabis will help individuals focus on relevant stimulation. Cannabis may also allow you to become more focused and alert, so whenever you’re listening to songs you could possibly have the ability to become more invisible to the particulars of a tune. Cannabis may also help out with soothing you and rid of external anxieties, so audio can be appreciated to a deeper degree. Because of this, the more chilled you end up from the audio, the greater it seems and the longer you associate with this.

Smoking or drinking marijuana may also enable you to enter into a meditative state, that can make it possible for you to consume the songs you’re listening to much more. You might have noticed the way that it lets you feel freer and enriches your capacity to get feelings you might otherwise keep concealed. It happens, songs are closely intertwined to emotions and memories, making cannabis an excellent pairing for your wonderful songs you might have heard previously. Possibly above all, however, is that cannabis has the capability to excite happy feelings. Whenever you’re listening to songs and you’re feeling euphoria, it’s a lot more inclined to appear amazing and be much enjoyable.

Music Background & Cannabis

Most musicians, by Lady Gaga into Bob Marley, have found inspiration by using cannabis and feature a lot of the creative victory for this. Cannabis is closely tied to a lot of distinct genres of songs, both with negative and positive connotations.

EDM: Electric songs have undergone a hay-day in the last couple of decades, getting increasingly popular since the songs festival scene has really increased. EDM is filled with cannabis references also it has come to be a massive area of the culture.

Folk: By Bob Dylan into the Grateful Dead into Willie Nelson, cannabis was part of folk music civilization for so long as it’s been about. Folk music has been associated with hippies and the counterculture of the 60s and 70s, which makes cannabis an excellent companion.

Hip Hop: Cannabis has been tied to hip hop and rap, being chased consistently in tunes. Hip hop lyrics between cannabis are a few of the most famous references to bud. Hip hop has given us a number of the main cannabis legalization urges, such as Snoop Dog.

Jazz: Cannabis and Jazz have a long and storied history that a lot of do not understand. Anti-cannabis advocates utilized racism towards African American Jazz musicians because a motive to ditch cannabis, they had been supposed to smoke. Regardless of the propaganda utilized by anti-marijuana bands, some Jazz musicians were cannabis lovers (Cannabis Oil For Sale UK). Louis Armstrong was famous for his tune known as “Muggles”, that had been a slang term for marijuana.

Pop: Can “I get high with a little help from my friends” ring a bell for you? The Beatles didn’t shy away in their affection for cannabis and do modern day pop stars such as Miley Cyrus. Cyrus was offered with her marijuana usage, smoking a joint on live TV.

Reggae: Cannabis’ number one urge before Snoop Dog came was Bob Marley. He regularly blamed his success by composing new songs to cannabis intake and it turned into an extremely integral part of this reggae picture he fostered.

Rock: By the Beach Boys into Jimi Hendrix, lots of stone icons used cannabis to help them kick while out on the street. Though stone is occasionally connected with harder drugs, cannabis has long been part of the stone culture and procedure.

 

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June 10, 2019

How Music Helps With Depression

Almost everyone loves music. There are even some people who cannot stay productive all day at work or school without some background music to listen to. This is because music changes our mood and even motivate us. But did you know what music can also relieve depression? There are studies that show that music therapy that combines talk therapy with music can make wonders like alleviating depression in several ways. Click over here for more ways to alleviate stress or even boredom.

As mentioned earlier, there are many ways music can help a person in depression, Playing an instrument, for example, lets depressed people to express themselves non verbally and let their emotions and worries away through playing a specific instrument.

Music therapy comes in two types: active and receptive and no musical background is required to both therapies. To compare the two types, active music therapy is when the therapist and the patient improvise, recreate, or compose music using a drum, mallet instrument or just the voice. The goal is for the patient to share thoughts and feelings that arise with the music making and, as a result, develop insight into his or her problems. In receptive music therapy, patients listen to music while meditating, drawing or reminiscing. This process allows patients to improve their mood and develop coping and relaxation skills. The therapist selects instruments and music based on each patient’s individual preferences and needs. The duration and frequency of music therapy sessions vary, but they typically last 20 minutes to one hour. Patients may undergo sessions daily, weekly or monthly. Sessions can take place in a group or individually in a hospital, therapist’s office or patient’s home.

If you are wondering how or where to find a music therapist, they work in various settings such as outpatient clinics, community mental health centers, psychiatric treatment centers, substance abuse programs, rehabilitation facilities, medical centers, group homes, senior centers, hospices, and schools. The service that they will give, depends, of course on the type of your concern. There are some music therapist that specialize in working with mental concerns.

If you know someone who is struggling with depression and you want to help him/her, then you can lay down various options such as music therapy.

 

 

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June 9, 2019

Meet ChaCha, Bringing China’s Electronic Music To The World

In Austin, Texas, the annual music festival features 13 of the more than 800 artists from China and Taiwan. Most Asian participants are creating independent fantasy pop music, punk rock, as well as hip-hop music. There are only two electronic artists in the event – ChaCha Yehaiyahan of Shanghai China and Chiu Pi of Taiwan.

In an interview, ChaCha said she considers herself an international music artist despite that she is based in Shanghai as a singer and music producer. She has recently played in the South by Southwest held in March this year.

Back To The Roots

ChaCha performed at SXSW using two aliases: Yehaiyahan and Faded ghost. The first being a melodic electronic venture with repeated crossovers in the arena of pop, hip-hop, and soul genres. The later is a darker explosion of her persona, an experiment she always wanted to do.

This awesome electronic music artist is an independent artist who is accustomed to travel. In 2015, she has participated in the recent AM444 duo in collaboration with Dutch producer Jay. Soul in Europe. And in 2011, she had been the very first Chinese music artist who has participated at Red Bull Conservatory.

“I do not wish to be trapped only within my very own industry,” she said. “I would like to present my beats to people worldwide. The origins of most of the music I love are from the United States, although I have hardly ever performed a proper show in America. ”

Her global ambitions reflect the ambitions of her peers in the arena of local electronic music who strengthens the creative influence in China. Their growing global fanbase is all because of the efforts of her peers in the local music scene.

Performing Live From East To The West

China is among the most appealing electronic music markets. According to a survey by Nielsen, Electronic Dance (EDM) was selected as the fifth most popular music type in China and Taiwan in the year 2017. In the same year, mainland China hit the top 10 for the first time in the music market, with sales up 35% from the previous year.

ChaCha has been in Shanghai since 2005 and at the moment has one of the most advanced underground electronic tags and communities in China, which includes Genome 6.66MBP and SVBKVLT.

ChaCha said: “This city (Shanghai) is a more open and wonderful place to try things out without worrying about changing the sound to meet the needs of others.

Over the last decade, other independent record companies such as Hong Kong’s Absurd TRAX and Beijing’s Do Hits have slowly appeared throughout China.

Bigger players are taking notice. A growing number of American companies are signing Chinese electronic acts, and tech giant Tencent, which reportedly controls 70 percent of the Chinese music industry, started an EDM label last year.

The bigger players are recognizing this growing market. The number of US companies signing up for the Chinese electronic music industry is increasing. Tencent, which controlled 70% of the Chinese music industry last year, has recently launched the EDM brand.

China’s electronic music is growing in popularity year after year and with its popularity comes rapid development. And as the music genre comes close to success, more businesses and artists such as DJs4Australia speakers are investing in the idea of electronic music. This explains the growing number of novice DJs in the industry.

 

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June 7, 2019

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